Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Native Hawaiians with 5.8% of all age groups of Native Hawaiians having been told that they had a heart attack or myocardial infarction, compared to 3.8% of Caucasians (Salvail FR, et al, 2003). Similarly, 4.4% of Native Hawaiians reported having angina or coronary heart disease which was somewhat higher than the 3.7% reported by Caucasians (Salvail FR et al, 2003). Overall, Native Hawaiians had a lower prevalence of stroke, 1.9% compared to 3.2% for Caucasians (Salvail FR et al, 2003).

Among elderly with chronic heart failure, Wheeler et al. found that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders had significantly more procedures and a longer length of hospital stay compared to Caucasians (Wheeler et al., 2004). Elder-specific rates of heart disease or stroke for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are extremely limited and interpretations of this data should be cautious.

Overall, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) in Native Hawaiians is higher than in Caucasians living in Hawaii; and the number of procedures and length of stay in hospitals is also higher in Native Hawaiians.

However, stroke is more prevalent in Caucasians compared to Native Hawaiians.